The Reunion
by Niam Ryat
Summary: NOTE: this is a script. After Odysseus returns home from his Odyssey, Penelope (his wife) isn't quite sure that he really is her husband. In the original, their feelings aren't mentioned. I've tried to give the characters more depth.
1. The Question

Time: Ancient Greece about 1200 BC __

Time: Ancient Greece about 1200 BC

Setting: The palace of Odysseus. Odysseus has been away for twenty years, first fighting in the Trojan War, then trying to get home to his wife, Penelope, and his son Telemachus. In his absence, the palace has been overrun by suitors hoping to marry Penelope and claim Odysseus' wealth. Odysseus has just returned disguised as a beggar, and has gotten into the palace. He slaughters the suitors and reveals himself as Odysseus. But Penelope is still not sure whether or not to trust him.

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Scene: A large room with several massive columns in the center. The room is dark, lit only by the flames of a roaring fir on the UC wall. A door is cut into the wall LC. A fur is spread before the fire, and there are two chairs in the room. One is set before the fire, and the other against a column. It is in this chair that Odysseus sits. 

PENELOPE: _(appears in the doorway, pauses, then crosses silently to sit in the chair by the fire. There is silence for a while.)_

TELEMACHUS: _(enters excitedly through the door. Upon seeing the silence is sobered and stands in the corner. PENELOPE and ODYSSEUS give signs of noticing him, but neither one looks up.) _Cruel mother, do you feel nothing for this man, my father? Will you not sit and converse with him? What other woman would remain so cold as to shun her lord – her husband! And he just returned after twenty years of wars and wandering. Your heart is unchanging flint!

PENELOPE: _(looking at her hands, twisting her wedding ring.) _I am stunned, my son. I cannot speak to him. I cannot question him. I cannot keep my eyes upon his face. _(looking at TELEMACHUS)_ If he is really Odysseus, home at last, I shall know him better than you or anyone. _(finally looking at ODYSSEUS)_ There are secret signs we know, we two.

ODYSSEUS: _(does not look up, but smiles. Turns to TELEMACHUS. PENELOPE quickly looks down.)_ Peace, boy. Let your mother test me as she will. Before long she will know me as I am. Tatters, blood, dirt – all I am caked with now – make her doubt me still. But that is easily remedied. Telemachus! Philoteus, Eumaeus! _(PHILOTEUS and EUMAEUS enter. THEY and TELEMACHUS gather around ODYSSEUS' chair.)_ We must bathe and dress anew. Only then will the tides of my ladylove's heart change. 

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(PENELOPE sits and listens quietly to this, not looking up. The four men stand and leave the room. ODYSSEUS is the last out the door, where he pauses and looks at PENELOPE. She quickly glances at him. They make eye contact, then she quickly looks away as he exits.)


	2. Penelope

PENELOPE: (as soon as ODYSSEUS exits, she springs to her feet and begins to pace

PENELOPE: _(as soon as ODYSSEUS exits, she springs to her feet and begins to pace.)_

My heart! I have waited so long for this day, and now…now that it has come…I am speechless. I dreamt of such a homecoming – feasts and revelry – yet here I have a man in the dress of a beggar who creeps into my house, earns the trust of my son, and now expects me to love him as my husband! It is too fast. _(leans heavily against a column.)_ I do not even know if I am capable of loving a man. It has been so long, and I have grown so hard…_(covers face with hands, then begins to pace.) _And they say – ha! – that it is my tremendous faithfulness – or stubbornness – that has kept me loyal to Odysseus. But I have been alone for 20 years, and I have grown used to it. I fear that I have dreaded Odysseus coming home near as much as his death! I am another woman, and I know not who he has become. And yet…and yet…he _is_ my Odysseus, or so he says. And if he speaks the truth, I will rejoice at his return. How to be certain…_(slowly flops into her chair by the fire.)_

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(The lights go off. A screen is pulled over the fire so there is no light. A spotlight goes up DR, illuminating ODYSSEUS is a washbasin full of water, being bathed EURYCLEIA. At the moment he is sitting with his chin in his hands. His hair is being washed by EURYCLEIA)


	3. Odysseus

ODYSSEUS: I put on a face of indifference…did I not do it well, sweet Eurycleia

ODYSSEUS: I put on a face of indifference…did I not do it well, sweet Eurycleia? 

EURYCLEIA: _(adoringly) _Yes, my lord.

ODYSSEUS: But in sooth…_(turns to EURYCLEIA) _This is Penelope, my wife, my one true love! How can she shun me in this manner? _(sinking down to put his head in his hands) _If she knew the trials I have been put through to return to her, she would not be so harsh. _(turning to EURYCLEIA again)_ Tell me, Eurycleia…they say that Penelope has been faithful to me. Is it true? It is not that I doubt her fidelity, but…_(he trails off.)_

EURYCLEIA: _(turns ODYSSEUS' head front and continues washing. She speaks carefully.)_ She…has not been with any man, my lord. But…_(EURYCLEIA says this last word softly, looking into the distance. ODYSSEUS pays her no mind.)_

ODYSSEUS: Then what have I done? My Penelope's heart is hardened to me. She will not even look at my face. What must I do to win her heart again? _(turns to EURYCLEIA)_ Eurycleia, what would you say?

EURYCLEIA: _(firmly turning ODYSSEUS' head front)_ Only that I have nothing to say. I was but a servant when you left, and a servant I remain. I am not so bold as you may think, my lord. You ask too much.

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(ODYSSEUS splutters as he moves to get up. EURYCLEIA quickly brings a sheet-like piece of cloth from the shadows and holds it in front of the washtub. ODYESSEUS gets out and wraps the cloth around himself. Then he grasps EURYCLEIA'S hands.)

ODYSSEUS: You nursed me as an infant, Eurycleia. You cared for both Penelope and me as children here. You have been Penelope's trusted friend in my absence. I value your advice deeply. 

EURYCLEIA: _(EURYCLEIA is dressing ODYSSEUS in classic draping clothes. She fusses over him, brushing his hair, etc.)_ Then I may have the words to speak. Penelope is frightened. 

ODYSSEUS: _(interrupting)_ Frightened? Of me?

EURYCLEIA: Hush, my lord. Penelope is frightened of you, yes, for two reasons. She is not certain that you are who you claim to be. She as waited so long, I daresay she had lost all hope of seeing you alive again. The first thing you must do is convince her that you are, in fact, Odysseus. And if she finds that you speak the truth, she is frightened that you will have changed too much to love. So you must calm her with quiet, loving words. 

ODYSSEUS: _(passionately)_ I would do anything in my power to win her love.

EURYCLEIA: Then go to her patiently, and let her heart take its course. 

ODYSSEUS: Thank you, Eurycleia. You are my most faithful and beloved servant.

EURYCLEIA: _(looks down) _I am most undeserving, my lord. _(firmly, looking at ODYSSEUS.)_ Now go to Penelope. She has waited too long for you to delay. 

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(ODYSSEUS darts forward and kisses her on the cheek. Then he nervously smoothes out his tunic and walks out of the light. The spotlight goes out and the screen over the fire is pulled up. Lights up, dim. PENELOPE is sitting in her chair again, and ODYSSEUS enters to sit in his. EURYCLEIA enters behind him and quietly stands in the corner.)


	4. The Resolution

ODYSSEUS: (thoughtfully) Strange woman, the gods of Olympus have made you harder than any

ODYSSEUS: _(thoughtfully)_ Strange woman, the gods of Olympus have made you harder than any. Who else in the world would keep aloof from her husband if he returned to her from years of trials, washed up upon his own land after twenty years? _(to EURYCLEIA) _Nurse, make up a bed for me to sleep upon. Her heart is stone in her breast. 

PENELOPE: _(she does not look up, but ODYSSEUS looks at her as she speaks.) _Strange man, if man you are…'Tis no pride on my part, no, nor scorn for you, or even wonder, merely. I know well how you… how he appeared boarding the ship for Troy. It is hard not to think you are truly Odysseus. But all the same…Eurycleia, make up his bed and place it outside his bedchamber. Pile it with fleeces and sheets of pure linen.

ODYSSEUS: _(shocked and raging)_ Woman, by the gods you've hurt me now! Who dared to move my bed? No builder had that skill, unless a god came down to do the task. No mortal could budge it with a crowbar. There is our pact, our secret sign, built into our bed – my handiwork and no one else's! _(pacing)_ A trunk of olive grew in the building plot, and I shaped the bedroom around it. Then I cut off the leaves and branches, leaving it smooth. I shaped the stump into a bedpost, and let it be the model for three others. I inlaid them with gold, silver, and ivory, and stretched the bed between. _(he towers over PENELOPE and grabs her shoulders.)_ There's our sign! I know no more. Could someone else's hand have sawn that trunk and dragged the frame away? _(he crosses DR in disgust, not noticing PENELOPE'S face.) _

PENELOPE: _(as she hears him speak her eyes fill with tears and she runs to him.)_ Do not be angry with me, Odysseus! Think what difficulty we have been given: denied life together in our youth and flowering years, kept from crossing into old age together. Forgive me, do not rage at me! I could not welcome you with love. I had long ago fortified myself against the advances of men. _(ODYSSEUS has not looked at her yet. She is pleading.) _But now, what sign is as clear as our bed? No other man has ever laid eyes on it. Please, Odysseus. _(weeping)_

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(ODYSSEUS turns to PENELOPE, his eyes questioning. She smiles through her tears. Suddenly, ODYSSEUS smiles, grabs PENELOPE and lifts her. They hold each other, kissing. Lights out, except for the fire.)


End file.
